Humanity Reunited Once More
by Romulus98
Summary: Humanity was once divided into two different factions, one, plucked from their home long ago by a now extinct race and experimented upon, the other left behind and grew to be an interstellar empire. Now when the UNSC is down to their last stand, will their human cousins rush to their help when they have achieved contact or will they be left to die?
1. Chapter 1

**I don't think I'll be able to focus on any particular story. Seriously. I can't concentrate on any one story with all these plot bunnies running around my damn mind all the time. One of those plot bunnies turned out to be this one. Enjoy.**

 _ **Italics means different language**_

'' **means thoughts**

 **EDIT 1: 7/31/2015 Fixed some discrepancies and added what the SU ships looked like.**

 **I don't own Halo or Naruto or anything else referenced except the story itself.**

* * *

 **10.7.2552 UNSC Calendar**

 **Unknown Star System**

 **UNSC Spirit of Fire**

/systemreboot

/systemscanstart

/lifesupportonline

/weaponsonline

/enginesonline

/alertslipspacedrivemalfunction

/navigationonline

/communicationsonline

/hullintegrity90%

/allsystemsonline

/rebootingaisna1292-4'serina'

/alertunkownstarsystem

/alertunknowncivilization

/alertemergencyprotocolsactivated

/alertstartingemergencythawoutofpersonnel

* * *

 **328 AKI**

 **SU-Held System** **Pearl**

 **SVS** **Curiosity**

"Hmm… This is interesting…"

"What is Miyamoto?" A young man with brown hair set in a ponytail asked to a figure standing beside him. The figure in question looked almost like a normal person, but if one would look closer would see that the person in fact was made of hard light, with an overall color theme of blue, clothed in robes reticent of bandits with a katana strapped to his hip. His hair set into an unkempt ponytail.

"I am detecting an unscheduled slipspace portal opening on the edge of the system. I have already run scans of the site and it seems that a ship has appeared and it does not seem to be one of ours." Miyamoto replied.

"Have the other captains been updated?"

"Yes, all current data packages has been sent to neighboring vessels and the planet's AI, I have also taken the liberty of sending the package to command, since this is seems to be first contact." Miyamoto stood, his arms clasped behind his back, his expression changing with the slightest movement.

"Ah, that's why I like having you as an AI… I don't have to do anything and you can do everything…" The young man said, stretching in his chair, which was floating in the middle of the ship's bridge.

"Of course you would, you Nara's have always been lazy. I have no idea how you managed to get command of a vessel." Miyamoto replied sharply.

"And that… Is why I don't like you as a person… Sheesh, do you always have to talk to me with such a sharp tongue?" The aforementioned Nara complained.

"Yes, or else you won't actually work or do your job." Miyamoto deadpanned. "Anyway, incoming line from command, Commander Uzumaki is onscreen."

On the viewscreen, the face of a young man would appear, his head chock full of sun-kissed blonde, spiky hair, his eyes colored with the blue of a crystal clear ocean and the unique whiskers on his cheeks. "Yo Shikadai, situation ok over there?"

"Hey Naruto, everything is just fine over here, that ship that just popped up is still holding it's position at the edge of the system. Want us to initiate first contact?" Shikadai began readying orders in his neural lace.

"Go ahead, but you know the set protocols, so you probably don't want me to lecture you over again. Just know that I'm coming over there with my battle group in case shit hits the fan."

"Roger that." The viewscreen closed, and Shikadai sending his orders in his neural lace, the receiving personnel quickly working.

Soon enough the ship began moving, the Senbon-Class Multi-Role Vessel quickly warming up its engines and moving in quick order towards the unknown ship.

* * *

 **10.7.2552 UNSC Calendar**

 **Unknown Star System**

 **UNSC Spirit of Fire**

Within the bridge of the Spirit of Fire, a pedestal next to the captain's chair would lit up. A blue female figure stretching it's arms as if waking up from a long slumber, clothed in a lab coat with long hair. After going through several scans using the ship's external sensors, the figure would simply raise an eyebrow.

Turning her attention to the cryo bays, she would search out a Captain James G. Cutter. As she finds him, Cutter would have already gotten out of the cryo pod. "Serina, sitrep." Cutter making sure his cap is on right before making way towards the bridge.

"Captain, good to see you're awake. At the moment, we are in an unknown system. External scans have revealed that we have encountered an unknown civilization and several unknown ships have moved into a defensive formation over the planet, all ships except for one that is making its way towards us. Weapons seem to be cold although it appears to have shields at the ready. They are all rather big with the smallest being ten kilometers."

"How're our systems looking? Can we get them online before it reaches us?" Cutter asked as he stepped through the door into the bridge, surveying the room before sitting in his chair as more bridge personnel made their way inside to their positions.

"Yes, engines, weapons, other systems are warming up, currently standing at 25% and rising. Although I must remind you in case you forgot, we don't have the ability to make slipspace jumps any longer." Serina pointedly glanced at the captain before looking back to the viewscreen.

"Yes… I remember that, so, looks like this is gonna be make or break for us it seems. Open a channel on all frequencies Serina, let's who we're dealing with."

"Indeed, all our chips on the table and for all the marbles. Opening a channel on all frequencies."

"Do we have a First Contact Package by any chance?"

"No captain, Command never thought to equip us with such a thing." Causing Cutter to gently palm his face.

Taking a deep breath, Cutter began spoke,"This is Captain Cutter of the UNSC on the UNSC Spirit of Fire, we mean you no harm."

* * *

 **328 AKI**

 **SU-Held System** **Pearl**

 **SVS** **Curiosity**

A broadcast came through the open channel, the crew waiting in uncomfortable silence, " _This is Captain Cutter of the UNSC on the UNSC Spirit of Fire, we mean you no harm."_

The crew of the ship promptly face planted. Picking himself up and sitting back down in his chair, Shikadai sighed rather heavily. "Troublesome… Miyamoto, did you send the First Contact Package?"

"Er… My apologies, I seem to have forgotten about it in my excitement. Sending it now." He said with nary a change in expression.

"I repeat my earlier statement, this is why I hate you as a person. Since when do AI 'forget?!'"

* * *

 **10.7.2552 UNSC Calendar**

 **Unknown Star System**

 **UNSC Spirit of Fire**

"Captain, I have received what appears to be a First Contact Package. Shall I open Pandora's Box?" Serina turning her body slightly to face Cutter, her arms clasped behind her back.

"Yes Serina, open the package… Seems they're more readily prepared than us." The holoscreen above the holotable promptly lit up, displaying various items of interest. before the scrolling screen stopped on one particular picture, the picture of a spiky, blond human wearing what appears to be a flak jacket over his torso, a metal plate attached to a cloth headband paced on his forehead, ocean blue eyes, and a rather unique whiskered, smiling face. He was leaning on a tree while giving a peace sign.

"Uh, well... Did we just win the all or nothing? Cause I'm seeing a human from a First Contact Package from an unknown civilization." Cutter asked with a shocked expression, his eyes roving every pixel of the picture as if looking for something to prove it's false.

"The picture is real Captain, and I just found a translation package as well. We can talk to them right about… now. On you Captain."

Clearing his throat, Cutter opened his mouth and began speaking,"This is Captain Cutter of the UNSC on the UNSC Spirit of Fire, we mean you no harm."

* * *

 **328 AKI**

 **SU-Held System** **Pearl**

 **SVS** **Curiosity**

"This is Captain Cutter of the UNSC on the UNSC Spirit of Fire, we mean you no harm."

The crew erupted with cheers and yells, First Contact has finally been made! Shikadai allowed himself the littlest hint of a smile, while Miyamoto smirked.

"This is Captain Nara of the SVS Curiosity, of the Shinobi Union, glad to see you're friendly. Humanity sends it's regards, what species are you, if you don't mind me asking since you didn't send us a package of any kind."

"Well, that's the kicker isn't it… we're also human."

"That's troublesome news… Would you care for a video call for confirmation?"

Immediately, a holoscreen appeared in front Shikadai, showing a man in a military uniform in his sixties. "Well, this is beyond troublesome…" He grumbled.

"Indeed it is Captain Nara, if it is possible, might I be able to talk to your superiors? I'm currently in a rather dire situation, and if possible negotiate."

"From the damage on your ship I wouldn't doubt it. You're in luck, one of our leaders are enroute right now the moment we detected your arrival. We've been wondering when we were going to come in contact with another civilization. Just not expecting to contact another _human_ one." Shikadai giving Cutter a half-smirk.

"Wonderful, how long can I expect before your leader arrive?" Cutter giving a sigh of relief, before giving the same to Shikadai, maybe things won't be so bad after all.

"He should be arriving in a few minutes. I'll contact you when he does, although you'll most likely see it when he arrives."

* * *

 **10.7.2552 UNSC Calendar**

 **Unknown Star System**

 **UNSC Spirit of Fire**

"Very well then Captain Nara. I'll see you then. Cutter out." With that, the holoscreen disappeared. Turning his head towards Serina, "Serina, ready a pelican, get Red Team on the ready, I'm heading over when this leader of theirs arrives and is ready for talks." Quickly getting up, Cutter moves to exit the bridge, "XO has the bridge." He calls out right before he leaves.

As he walks down towards the hangers, Serina appears on a nearby pedestal, keeping up with Cutter as he walks down the hallways. "So what's the plan captain."

"They're human. If they're human, that means we can actually talk without shooting each other. I'm hoping I can get them to resupply and repair us, maybe even get some help. God knows we could use some allies in this war. Did you scan their ship by the way?" Cutter kept walking down the hallway as he talked, keeping his eyesight straight ahead of him as he salutes passing crewmen.

"Yes I have. Bad news is that their ships are close to the ships that the Prophet on that Forerunner shield world tried to get, although not completely. I can only assume that either they found Forerunner artifacts and reverse-engineered them, or they have been around for a _very_ long time, longer than even the Covenant by a very large margin. They can send us to kingdom come with a flick of a finger most likely."

Cutter grimaced. "Any good news from this?"

"Yes. Since they are human, there is a good chance that they will help us. Although I don't have enough data to reach a conclusion on how much. That part rests solely on your shoulders."

Reaching the hanger, Cutter could see a pelican with it's back ramp open with the entirety of Red Team standing in front of it. All three of them standing at attention the moment he stepped into view. "At ease, did Serina tell you the details?"

"Yes sir." Jerome-092 stepped forward, like his brother and sister behind him, he stood with his back straight and his hands clasped behind his back. "We are to act as your security detail aboard an unknown vessel while you talk with their superiors."

xxXXxx

While Captain Cutter was meeting up with the Spartans in the hanger, Serina was monitoring the space around the planet. A few minutes has already passed by, a blink for a human, but an eternity for an AI. Also during that time, she was studying the data from the initial scans of the whole system and the SU ships surrounding it and researching why the name Captain Nara gave of his ship sounded eerily similar to Japanese from Earth.

As she was looking through and comparing the untranslated words of Captain Nara against the various Japanese dialects, nine slipspace ruptures appeared on the far side of the planet's gravity well. Directing one of the runtime programs to keep an eye on it, she appeared on the closest pedestal to Cutter. "Captain, detecting nine slipspace ruptures on the far side of the gravity well. In addition, one of them is larger than any ship anyone in the UNSC has ever seen at eighty kilometers in length."

"Chances that it's who we're waiting for?"

"Most definitely. Also, comm line from Captain Nara. He's telling you his superior has arrived. Wait, additional line from that big ship." The pedestal proceeded to project a holoscreen into the air.

A man who looked exactly like the picture in the First Contact Package then appeared right next to Serina. "Hello there! Commander Uzumaki at your service. I heard you wanted to talk to me?"

"Indeed I do Commander, do you want me to head over to your ship first though?"

"Yes please. Comm lines aren't as secure as a face to face talk. I'll see you when you get here." With that, Naruto disappeared from the holoscreen, leaving Serina by herself on the pedestal. GIving the go ahead to Red Team to get on the pelican, Cutter quickly took out a plastoid chip from the pedestal and climbed aboard the dropship.

Giving a nod to the pilot and the dropship lifted off and headed out towards Naruto's command ship. No words were spoken as the ride moved, the Spartans staring straight ahead of them, the pilot flying the Pelican, Cutter mulling over on what to say, and Serina still pouring over the data on the unknown dialect and the SU ships.

The SU ships in question had an interesting appearance. Similar to every ships that Humanity has designed and every ship they have encountered from the Covenant, the SU ships were longer than they were tall. The prow ended at a tip with a small open space in between the making it look like two prongs. The back of the ships had layers upon layers of overlapping armor shards, with lines of blue light running between each layer. There was also short armor fins with what seems to be engines where the fins connect to the main superstructure. At the far back was where the main engines seem to be. With the overall look being similar to the engines on a Pelican dropship, giving off soft blue light trailing behind them.

Overall, the ships looked aesthetically pleasing to the eye, very much so. But it still gave off the visage of a predator and even though there was no visible weapon ports, they easily radiated leashed power.

Soon enough, they arrived at the ship, the ship painted a gleaming silver causing it to slightly reflect the sun's light.. The shield holding the void of space from the hanger then grew outward, passing through the dropship and staying just behind it until it passed the hangar doors. As the pilot called out the all clear, Red Team and Cutter stood up and prepared to exit.

As the ramp lowered, Cutter could see the entire hangar was cleared of items and at least an entire company worth of men and women lined up in perfect formation. Near the base of the ramp, stood Commander Uzumaki with a woman who stood next to him although slightly behind. The thing that stood out about her though was her eyes. Cutter didn't know if she was blind or not but the paleness of her eye couldn't have been normal. On the other side was something that no one could have expected. A fox with nine tails the size of a dire wolf.

But the most important thing about everyone in the hangar was their armor. Their armor consisted of a dark grey undersuit that clung to their bodies, armor plates that hung about a centimeter above their undersuits, the pauldrons slightly higher at about two to three centimeters. The armor seemingly had lines of glowing light between each plates connecting the together into one seamless suit. It made the MJOLNIR suits for the Spartans look like armor from the Medieval Ages. Their helmets weren't on which allowed him to see their faces. But they didn't seem to have any weapons visible on them.

Quickly, Cutter and his escort walked down the ramp to greet the Commander. "Commander Uzumaki, I'm Captain Cutter. It's nice to be here." Holding a hand out between them to shake.

* * *

 **328 AKI**

 **SU-Held System** **Pearl**

 **SVS** **Stalwart Determination**

"Captain Cutter, Commander Uzumaki." Motioning to the woman next to him,"This is Captain Uzumaki Hinata," Hinata bowed slightly after being introduced, then pointing to the fox,"This is Kurama."

Then, to the surprise of the UNSC personnel, Kurama responded back, "Hello humans."

"Nice to see you face to face finally, never did like talking to someone over comms." Naruto half smirking to Cutter.

After getting over his shock of a talking fox, Cutter nodded,"I can see what you like about it, but comms are indeed convenient."

"Well, that is quite true. But let's talk about this later, we have negotiations to hash out?"

"Ah yes. Lead the way."

Nodding, Naruto smartly pinwheeled on his heel and headed towards the door on the far side of the hangar. Hinata and Kurama keeping to the respective sides of Naruto as they walked. Soon they were out of the hangar and the hallways, surprisingly, were empty of any crew. After a minute or two of walking in silence, Naruto spoke up. "You seem surprised at the fact that Kurama can talk."

"Yes, I was. There isn't anything like him in the UNSC. No animals could talk where we're from."

At the point where Cutter said animal, Kurama seemingly took offense at that and snarled. "I am no animal human, I am the Nine Tailed Demon Fox! You better remember that!"

"Ma, ma… Calm down furball. He didn't mean anything by it. I doubt they're used to knowing and seeing a real life demon just walking around." Naruto glancing towards Kurama as they walked. Kurama merely growled at that, before sending a few _embarrassing_ pictures through their mental link making Naruto wince.

Cutter and Red Team were clueless on why Naruto winced. But they continued to walk down the hallways regardless. After a few minutes, they stopped in front of a closed door.

"Alrighty then. Here is the meeting room, if possible, please place your weapons on the table here before entering." Naruto waved his hand towards the wall, from which a table materialized.

Cutter nodded, then grabbed his M6D PDWS and placed it on the table. He then glanced to Red Team, to which he nodded towards the table. Quickly, although with slight hesitation, they took off their rifles and sidearms and placed them onto the table. After they all placed their weapons on the table, they faced Naruto again, to which he in turn faced the door.

When Naruto opened the door, the sight that greeted Cutter and Red Team was a large circle-shaped table that could seat about 12 people comfortably. At the moment though, only the seats at the 10, 11, 1, and 2 o'clock positions were being used.

At first glance it looked like the people sitting at the table were physically present, but with a second, closer look, Cutter found that they were all made of a different substance. At first Cutter thought that they were holograms projected into the seats, but on second thought they were a little too lifelike to be holograms. Instead they seemed to be made of some dense, but malleable material which was colored the exact same as a person would be. Cutter didn't understand how they did this, but again, he decided to put this on the backburner.

As they stepped through, Naruto spoke up, "Alright, let me introduce you to everyone here." Before he pointed to the 10 o'clock seat, "Kurotsuchi, the Fourth Earth Shadow." 11 o'clock. "Darui, the Fifth Lightning Shadow." 1 o'clock. "Chojuro, the Sixth Water Shadow." Then the 2 o'clock. "Gaara, the Fifth Wind Shadow." Then Naruto himself walked to the head of the table, the 12 o'clock positioned seat and sat down in it, then pointed to himself, "And myself, Uzumaki Naruto, the Seventh Fire Shadow. Now, the principal leaders of the Shinobi Union has convened together on your account. What is it that you wish to discuss Captain Cutter?"

* * *

 **Here's the first chapter. Hope you enjoyed and I'm currently on a writing spree so you'll see me update my other stories soon. Review! Review!**

 **Addition: If you want to see what I based the SU ships on, go to my profile.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 for this story is here! Just in case no one knew, I edited chapter 1. Changed some scenes, added some other stuff. Did some stuff. Go check it out.**

 **OH! Before I forget, I added links on my profile on what SU ships and armor was designed off of. So, check those out too.**

 **Disclaimer is in the first chapter.**

* * *

 **328 AKI**

 **SU-Held System** **Pearl**

 **SVS** **Stalwart Determination**

Naruto's whole demeanor changed in the blink of an eye, where at first he was friendly and casual, though respectful, now he was full of authority and power and experience. He sat down with his elbows on the table, his hands interlocked together in front of his face, covering all except for his eyes which shined past and seemingly looked into your soul.

"First, I would like to properly introduce myself. I am Captain Cutter of the UNSC Spirit of Fire, of the United Nations Space Command, the military, scientific, and exploratory arm of the United Earth Government. I arrived here with my ship by absolute accident after putting all crew except our AI into cryo due to the fact we lost our mode of Faster Than Light travel. We are not looking for a fight, just trying to get home." Cutter's face showed his fatigue, the bags under his eyes visible.

"We expected to find ourselves back in our home system, or at least a system we held after we entered cryo. At current, we have limited resources, no way home, and far out of known space. On top of that, our ship is damaged after fighting a covenant of alien species who made it their mission to exterminate humanity because they found us as an, and I quote, 'Affront to their gods.'" He looked into each of their eyes, meeting their gazes for a few seconds before moving to the next.

"At this moment in time, I am asking for help, even if it's just to get us out of your system faster."

The room was silent after Cutter's appeal for help. All five leaders were staring at Cutter, their thoughts unknown, their eyes giving nothing away. After a few minutes of silence passed, Naruto spoke up, "Is there any possibility of negotiation with them?"

"No, every time we attempted to send ambassadors they were killed. Every message we sent was given no reply. Also from what we can find, they won't stop for anything other than our extermination, or their extermination. Their hatred of our humanity also has the possibility of transferring onto you since you are also human."

"That is a grave problem. How long have you been at war with them?" That was Gaara, the Fifth Wind Shadow.

"At the moment, our calendar says that it has been twenty-seven years since the start of the war. I have no idea what the situation at the moment is though. We went into cryo in 2531 after the fight in a Forerunner shield world. Do you know who or what Forerunners are?" Cutter questioned the five, seeing as they had similar technology.

The five kages then quickly looked between themselves, before they returned their attention to Cutter and Naruto spoke up again, "We do actually. Very much so. Our technology, as you have probably guessed, is based on Forerunner technology that we acquired several centuries ago after a certain incident. But first, why don't we explain some details about the Shinobi Union to you, seeing as you have already explained a bit about the UNSC."

Then, Darui spoke, "We, as the five shadows, are the leaders of the Shinobi Union. The Shinobi Union is the government that was formed after our Fourth Ninja World War. After an incident a very short while after its formation, we discovered the Forerunners, which propelled our people into the void of space."

Kurotsuchi, "But with the advent of Forerunner technology also came many new advances into many branches of science. Medicine, physics, chemistry, but most importantly we learned about our past and the fact that there might be another human race out there besides us, along with many other alien species."

"So that is why you weren't all that surprised when we showed up…" Cutter 'hmmm'ed' in thought.

Chojuro, "Due to the new influx of information and technology, we expanded into the stars, our population boomed, technology advanced at a rapid pace, and we prepared for eventual First Contact with another race. Although we hoped that if it was true that there was another human race, that we achieved contact with them first. Which we did with your arrival."

Gaara, "We know what it is like to hang under the threat of extermination. Even though it wasn't as direct as yours, we would not wish it to happen if we knew about it. We, long ago, agreed that if we did meet our human cousins that we would pursue friendly relationships. We are both human after all, so why should we fight each other?"

Naruto now spoke up, "As such, we feel it our duty to help our human cousins now, to help you against this Covenant. Starting with the repair of your ship, and with your permission, some enhancements. We will not stand idle whilst our cousins be under threat of genocide, no sentient species should be under threat of such a thing. As dictated by the Mantle of Responsibility that has been passed down to all current humans, Reclaimers as we are otherwise called, by the Forerunners to continue to be the guardians of all life." Naruto ended with a smile on his face, which in turn elicited smiles on the other kages.

Cutter on the other hand, couldn't believe what he had just heard. Not only will he be able to get help for his crew and ship, in all possibilities, he just managed to find allies to help them against the Covenant. Even the Spartans behind him, stiffened ever so slightly at the news, which the kages all noticed.

Cutter broke out into a euphoric smile, "Thank you, so much… How long will it take to repair our ship?"

"It should only take a couple of days. With your permission, we would like to enhance your ship to our standards as is your right." Chojuro replied.

"Of course, go right ahead. If possible, would you allow my crew for a break on the planet? Let them stretch out their legs a bit?"

"We can allow that. Hashirama will give you the details. Other than that, would you like to hash out our agreement in further detail?" Naruto said, prompting an AI to appear at the center of the table. He was dressed in red armor with brown eyes and dark brown hair and when he appeared, bowed to the group.

"Very well." The future of the UNSC looked bright, that is, if it wasn't destroyed already.

* * *

 **18.7.2552 UNSC Calendar**

 **SU-Held System Pearl**

 **UNSC Spirit of Fire**

It's been over a week since the Spirit of Fire found itself in SU space. True to their word, the Spirit of Fire was repaired and enhanced by their engineers. Although it was very surprising to see a Covenant Huragok floating around and fixing stuff; with a bit of explanation though, it was cleared up. The fact that they never attacked anybody during the war helped a lot though.

Captain Cutter was standing in his newly repaired bridge. The walls still the same gunmetal grey, except this time they were replaced to the standards of an SU ship. It could take a plasma torpedo head on and come out only a little scorched. The ship was equipped with a new shielding system that was on par to a Covenant assault carrier which was powered by a pair of Forerunner power cores, with another pair of deuterium power cores as backup. The Slipspace drive was also replaced, this time it allowed travel of up to 3750 LY per day.

Along with a new hull plating and shielding system, the Spirit of Fire received new weapon systems. This included the Z-8070 Heavy Directed Energy Weapon that was mounted on the sides for additional anti-ship capabilities, the Z-8500 Point Exterior Defense Network replacing the previous 50mm PDW for point defense against fighters although it can increase its charge for close range anti-ship duty. Along with upgrades to the MAC that meant it could fire multiple times before needing to recharge and a small energy projector just below it.

His bridge crew were sitting at their positions, their consoles improved with increased processing power and memory banks. Serina also was improved, her life-span increased, along with processing power and memory.

Now, after everything that has happened, he was ready to go back home. The men were well-rested and itching to get back into the fight. The ship was repaired to be even better than before.

At first he was apprehensive to allow an alien race stepping into the Inner Colonies, Earth especially, but the Cole Protocol only concerned Covenant forces. Another matter was that although the Shinobi Union are technically aliens, they are human. So in effect, it is not violating the Cole Protocol at all. In addition he is bringing back allies to help in the war.

In agreement between the five kages, Cutter asked that they first send one ship with them back to Earth, so as to not incite panic to the defense forces. This way, the ship could act as an envoy from the Shinobi Union, to the UNSC, which in essence, the UEG. The ship in question was Captain Nara's ship, standing at 10 km in length, a Senbon-class Multi-Purpose Vessel fitted to be a deep exploration vessel.

Captain Nara's vessel in its basic form looked similar to Commander Naruto's ship, which was designed on one form style from which every SU ship was designed off of. The ship had the same shape, except it didn't have the slit horizontally in front. Instead, where the slit would be was strips of blue light, the tip tapering to a sharp point. Just behind the tip though was fins pointing away from the ship, both on top and bottom similar to a shark fin.. At the back though, it had something sort of like wings, except it was short and angled downwards with armor strips connecting it to the main body. The engines being the same along with no visible weapon ports.

Surprisingly, Commander Naruto decided to accompany them on the SVS Pearl, along with his personal bodyguards totaling to around a squad of 10. Along with the ship's complement of a full company of the Shinobi Union's version of Marines, the Shinobi, and two full companies of their version of the Army, the Ashigaru.

The Shinobi, although their version of Marines, were elite units, on par in training and experience of ODSTs with usage being standard infantry, special naval vessel complements, planetary garrisons, shock troops, and special forces. When asked of their capabilities by Cutter though, he was surprised (read: shocked senseless) that they were able to perform acts that were akin to magic: shooting fireballs from their mouths, lightning from their fingertips, creating a wall of earth from the ground. He then learned that every person in the Shinobi Union had a second set of system akin to blood vessels in the body that transported a type of energy called 'Chakra'. With the usage of this 'Chakra', those trained in its use were able to perform acts of 'Ninjutsu' and 'Genjutsu'. Along with these acts, they were able to use 'Chakra' to increase their body's performance, strengthening the muscles to lift large weights, move faster, see shaper, hear better, etc.

Along with this, was a science called 'Fuinjutsu', the Art of Seals. 'Fuinjutsu', he learned, were basically runes that was created through the use of 'Chakra' for any purpose the creator wanted. The range of uses was limited merely by the user's imagination. This was further shown when he opened a scroll, and after placing a hand on it, came a cloud of smoke that revealed a steaming hot bowl of ramen, complete in a red-rimmed bowl and chopsticks, which was said to come from a pocket of subspace.

The Ashigaru, were similar to the UNSC's Army. Although they weren't used only to garrison planets, which were levied from the particular planet's own population. Along with being a planet's main garrison forces, they were the default complement for any naval vessel and the main standing army of the Shinobi Union. The Ashigaru though, differing from the Shinobi, were not able to utilize 'Chakra', instead using purely physical weapons using ionized particles and hard light. Not to say that the Shinobi doesn't use them, they do, simply for the Ashigaru, it is their only weapon along with units similar to UNSC units, artillery, logistics, armoured, mechanized, etc.

After everything was set up, Naruto, in the SVS Pearl, and Cutter, in the UNSC Spirit of Fire, began preparations for jump to Slipspace to travel to Earth. Which after an hour was revealed that the journey itself would take at least six days to get there, even with the incredible Slipspace drives.

Eventually though, everything was ready or travel: supplies were stocked, ammunition stocked, weapons readied, data backed up, personnel well rested. They spooled up their drives and entered the black space that is the eleven dimensions that made up Slipspace.

* * *

 **24.7.2552 UNSC Calendar**

 **Earth, Sol System, Inner Colonies**

 **UNSC Spirit of Fire**

The moment they left Slipspace, they expected to see the beautiful blue oceans of Earth, with hundred of ODPs orbiting it and the UNSC Home Fleet guarding the system. Instead, the alarms blared, Serina calling for battlestations, and the biggest Covenant fleet ever to be encountered besieging Earth, with the Earth itself on fire, most around major cities and space elevators. The space around Earth filled with the wreckage of destroyed ships and explosions. The UNSC Home Fleet was busy fighting off the Covenant fleet with everything they got, but it seems that there was a breach in the defenses.

Immediately as they arrived, they were hailed by the flagship of the UNSC Home Fleet, the picture of Fleet Admiral Lord Terrence Hood appearing on the main holoscreen on the bridge of the Spirit of Fire, "Captain Cutter! I see you're alive and well. I'll skip the questions on what happened to you all these years, instead I'm going to ask you this: What the hell is that ship next to you doing in the Sol System?!"

"That ship belongs to the Shinobi Union, they are here as our new allies! But the most important thing is that they're human sir! I doubt you have time for me to explain everything to you, so I'll send you a data packet instead. Other than that, the Spirit of Fire got a major upgrade thanks to them and we're ready to help, sir!" Cutter replied, Serina having already sent the data packet before he even finished and Hood on the screen reading off a datapad. "I can get them to join this line if you want it sir?"

"Go ahead, I want to see them myself." Hood said, before a second face appeared next to him on the holoscreen.

"Hello there, I am Commander Uzumaki Naruto, one of the five leaders of the Shinobi Union. It is nice to meet you but I see that you have your hands full at the moment?" Naruto said already dressed in armor.

"Good to meet you Commander Uzumaki. It has been made apparent to me that you are our new allies. Can we count on you to help us?" Hood asked, his face absolutely serious.

"Yes of course. We didn't expect there to be a full out space battle here so we only brought one ship. At current, we have two companies of Ashigaru, our version of your Army, and one company of Shinobi, our version of your Marines. Just tell us where you need them and we'll send it. This ship will also fight alongside you against their fleet."

"Very well, I'll have my AI tell you where you're needed."

"Alright, I got it. I'll have my AI coordinate with your troops and mine to plug up breaches in whatever front you need help. I'll drop down in New Mombasa with my squad, who is the ranking officer on the ground I will need to link up with?"

"You're going down with them?"

"Yes, our people lead from the front in war."

"Very well, at the moment, New Mombasa is too hot for any troops to deploy, so you'll need to deploy your troops at the town of Voi. We have control of an old military base there under the command of Commander Keyes. She will brief you more once you're on the ground."

"Very well, I'll be joining the troops, Captain Nara," At which point another face appeared, "will from here on out will be in command of this ship. Goodluck Fleet Admiral." Then Naruto's face disappeared, leaving only Lord Hood and Captain Nara on the holoscreen.

"This is Captain Nara, my ship, the SVS Curiosity, and I are prepared to lend you our support, where do you need us?"

"Captain Nara, you have already received the information?"

"Yes, all information has been received, waiting on your order."

"How long will it take to drop off your troop complements?"

"Only a few minutes, our dropships are moving towards the planet already and and Commander Uzumaki is about to make landfall at Voi. As soon as our troops make landfall, we can use them as beacons for sending in supplies through our teleportation grid."

"I see. Where is Commander Uzumaki now?"

"In freefall."

"What?"

* * *

 **24.7.2552 UNSC Calendar**

 **Earth, Sol System, Inner Colonies**

 **Crow's Nest, Near Voi**

"Ma'am! Message from Fleet Admiral Hood!"

"Give it here Corporal." Commander Keyes receiving a datapad from the soldier and looking through it before a smile bloomed on her face. Turning to communications, "Connect me to the bases PA system."

"Yes ma'am. And…. You're connected."

"Attention all troops, prepare for reinforcements to arrive at the front gate! The UNSC Spirit of Fire has just made it home and they brought friends! Troops from the Shinobi Union are going to make landfall at various fronts against the Covenant around the globe. We ourselves are receiving a squad of reinforcements for our push towards New Mombasa. The squad coming down is their commander, seems like they like to lead from the front. The Covenant is going to get a surprise today!"

 **24.7.2552 UNSC Calendar**

 **Earth, Sol System, Inner Colonies**

 **East-African Jungle, Near Voi**

"Yeah, I see'em, but you won't believe how they're coming down. Yup, yeah. I have the Chief with me right now. Alright, I'll make contact. Johnson out." Johnson gave the radio back to the marine next to him, before taking his MA5C in his hands. "Let's move out boys and girls! Let's go meet our new friends!"

The small squad of about eight marines plus one Spartan quickly made their way to the impact site of where the Shinobi Union squad was to make their arrival. The small patch of ground was surprisingly clean, no crater, no smoke, and no squashed bodies. Just the group of eleven soldiers in dull silver armor standing in perfect parade files.

"Heh, not bad…" Johnson murmured, before calling out, "You the reinforcements?"

The one that stood in front of the other ten spoke up, "Yes, you must be Sergeant Major Avery Johnson. Me and my personal squad are here to provide support for your push towards Voi and ultimately New Mombasa." His head, all their heads were covered in a helmet that was also a dull silver, where a faceplate would be was a blue screen, not letting the marines and Spartan see their faces.

"Very well, mind telling me who I'm going to be working with?"

"I am Commander Uzumaki Naruto, one of the five leaders of the Shinobi Union," Then his helmet folded into his suit, showing his whiskered and blond hair framed face, "It is a pleasure to meet our human cousins."

Inside Chief's suit, Cortana was commenting, "Huh, if I had a physical body, I would be blushing right about now. He looks handsome as hell…" Which prompted Chief to slap his helmet.

"Well then Commander, pleasure to meet you, follow us back to Crow's Nest, Commander Keyes is waiting for you." Johnson said before turning around, his rifle in his hands.

As they were walking back to base, Naruto spoke up, "Sergeant, Covenant patrol up ahead, ten bodies. Would you like us to take them out?"

Shrugging, Johnson gave them the go ahead wanting to see how they stack up. He took his squad and Chief closer to watch. Crouching in the foliage, they couldn't see any of the Shinobi squad, even though the forest was full of greens and browns, no signs of any silver could be seen. Soon, the Covenant patrol came into view, two brutes followed by three jackals and five grunts.

Within seconds of them coming into view, the patrol suddenly froze. Then Naruto himself came out, although his helmet was up, he could be identified since he was tagged. He stepped into the patrol's midst holding what looked like to be a katana, before he swiftly cut off each and every one of their heads, the bodies all falling like cut puppets. As quickly as he appeared, he then melted back into the surrounding forest, the dull silver disappearing into the greens and browns.

Johnson's squad then moved up before Naruto's squad came out of the forest in front of them. "That was an interesting way of taking them out. Why did they suddenly freeze up like that?"

"Ah, that is what we call a 'Genjutsu'. It tricks the victim, or victim's' senses to see, hear, feel, what we want them to. But in reality, their bodies freeze allowing them to be vulnerable to any and all attacks." Naruto explained.

"Okay then, let's keep going."

* * *

 **24.7.2552 UNSC Calendar**

 **Earth, Sol System, Inner Colonies**

 **Crow's Nest, Near Voi**

Soon, the UNSC and SU squad arrived at the base. The guards at the front gates quickly opening up the door and allowing them inside. Quickly, Johnson, Chief, and the SU squad was ushered to the command center, the Spartan and the SU squad receiving stares along the way.

As they arrived at the command center, they found Commander Keyes standing in front of a large screen that showed the progress of the battle. Hearing the steps behind her she turned around and finally saw what the SU troops looked like, the suits a gleaming silver with glowing, colorful lines between armor plates, the blue faceplate, it certainly looked advanced.

"Ah, Johnson, Chief. Finally, you must be the Shinobi Union squad. Which one of you is the commanding officer?" Keyes asked, eyeing them closely.

Naruto stepped up, his armor having red lights, signifying his rank, his helmet folding into the rest of his armor, "That would be me, Commander Uzumaki at your service, behind me is my personal squad. Pleasure to be working with you Commander Keyes."

"And to you as well. I understand you are landing troops all over the globe?"

"Yes, they're being sent to locations where fighting is the heaviest or where UNSC lines are breaking. We only have at current three full companies at our disposal currently, although we are calling for reinforcements which would take around six days to get here. An entire battlegroup is being sent, my battlegroup of eight ships each longer than a Covenant Supercarrier. I believe that it would be enough?"

Each soldier in the room stopped what they were doing the moment they heard those words. The news that reinforcements of such caliber were coming to help lifted the morale of everyone there immensely. Maybe it won't be that long until the war is over!

Coming out of her shock, Keyes grinned, "Your battlegroup is coming huh? Why aren't you on it then?"

Naruto cheekily smiled, "Ah well, you know… Had to be diplomats and all that and one of the Shinobi Union's leaders had to come here to reach out for an alliance."

"You're one of the Shinobi Union's leaders? Like how the president is for the UEG?"

"Basically. There is five of us that leads the SU. It's not a democracy like yours is, but it has been very peaceful for a long time. Other than pirates and stuff like that…"

"If that's the case, why are you down here fighting? Shouldn't you be back on your ship and be safe?"

Naruto chuckled, "For you guys, leaders sit behind a desk while you fight. Not us. One of the requirements to be one of the five kages, the five leaders of the Shinobi Union is that you have to be a warrior, one of the best to be exact and to fight in front of everyone else in times of war. We lead by example. We are all willing to die if it means we can save our people. Each one of the kages are hardened warriors, we've been through war, we've seen friends and family die in battle, we are no strangers to death."

That news made her smile. Here was a leader of an entire race who left home and safety to fight in some god-forsaken jungle against genocidal aliens for people that barely knew.

Just maybe, the battle for earth won't be that bad.

* * *

Codex Entry

Ships

Senbon-class Multi-Purpose Vessel

 _The Senbon-class Multi-Purpose Vessel (MPV) is a void ship that was created by Fujiwara Heavy Industries. The vessel was designed to be flexible in its roles. It is able to take on a large multitude of roles, ranging from transport vessels to being a frigate in a fleet._

 _Through the simple process of changing several core systems, the ship can be changed from role to role quickly and cheaply. The only thing after is procuring the necessary equipment for its role, such as being an exploration vessel, it would require very efficient engines and very good sensors when going into unknown space._

 _Many civilian captains has taken to using the vessel for its reliability and flexibility. Although because of its traits that many pirates has also taken to it for their work. At current, the ship is one of the main workhorses of the Shinobi Union's Navy. Being that it is cheap to make, and flexible and at the same time powerful, it is one of their more iconic warships only second to the Fortress-class vessels that all Kages command._

Would you like to know more?

 **Yes No**

* * *

 **And that is a wrap! Yes, I have introduced Codex entries to this series! Simply because doing so I can go further in depth about many things, such as the Senbon-class vessels. This way I can use more space when I write instead of using it to explain lots of things, or simply to extend the story. I mean, what good story has little to no lore?**

 **Other than that, this chapter was rather difficult to write. Even now, after finishing it, it sorta feels off. I'll just leave it up to you guys to decide whether this chapter is good or not.**

 **Other than that, school is about to start again, so expect updates to come slower and more sporadic. I also might have another new story in the works… Yes I know! You want me to concentrate on my current stories, but it'll be worth it! Trust me!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I wanted to get this finished in time for Thanksgiving, but shit happens and I couldn't get the time to write. Now though, found time to write this now, and writing and writing. But less AN, you want to read! So, on to the reviewer wall! (Always wanted to do one)**

 **Reviews:**

 **Kinunatzs :** Well, I haven't exactly given the Shinobi all that screen time in action yet. Plus, it's only been two chapters in so there hasn't been much opportunities for them to blow some stuff up.

 **Evinco :** They'll try. But I'm not going to say more than that.

 **TheMysteriousOtaku :** I won't be putting in Bijudama cannons for the ships, since the ships are based off Forerunner tech and all that. If I do then I would have to somehow explain why each ship has enough chakra generation on the level of a Biju which means even more technical explanations that all of you would probably just scroll past.

 **Blackcurse11 :** I can see what you're saying, but I guess it would be that the SU had inklings that there was another human race out there in the deep dark of space, so they already had plans on what they would do. In this case, with the UNSC being steamrolled by the Covenant they went along with those guidelines and went to help.

On the UNSC side, when the SU ship entered the Sol Systems, the UNSC were metaphorically backed against the wall. If Earth fell, the UNSC fell. If the UNSC fell, Humanity falls. Period. Considering that they came with the Spirit of Fire alongside them held credence to the fact they were allies and were there to help, not to massacre humanity like the Covenant were doing.

 **Ozzie93 :** Well… All I got to say to that is that I was reading a LOT of Mass Effect fics so I was kinda 'Commander this' and 'Commander that'. I'll probably fix that one of these days and switch it to 'Lord Hokage' or something since Naruto is the Hokage.

 **Oniele :** Of course m'lord! At once!

 **yukicrewger2 :** Correct my good sir! Those two are going to be the fighter and bomber classes, although probably be the kunai being the bomber and shuriken being the fighters.

 **Guest :** That would be incorrect, the Lord of Admirals part. I've yet to decide on the origins on how the SU came to be, like their race. But at this point in time I'm for sure not having them go back to Ancient Humanity stuff. I don't even know if I want to bring some of their tech into the story since there is barely any info (that I could find) on what kinds of tech they use. I know that it's similar to Precursor tech, there just isn't enough to smoothly incorporate it into the story.

 **CP020 :** Could you elaborate on what is confusing you? Merely saying you're confused doesn't exactly do much.

 **Now, same disclaimer as before on chapter 1, I don't own any story or elements of anything I use in this story other than the story plot itself.**

"Normal speech"

' _Radio'_

" **Demon, Bijuu, other supernatural beings"**

 **Onwards, to victory!**

* * *

 **328 AKI**

 **SU-Held System Pearl**

 **SVS Stalwart Determination**

"Hashirama, is everything prepared."

"Yes Captain. All ships reporting in green and ready for slipspace jump. Waiting on your order."

"All ships, engage slipspace drives. The Covenant has found Earth and Lord Hokage has called us for assistance to beat them back. Estimated time of arrival is one standard week."

Over the planet, the battlegroup that Naruto commanded moved towards nine ruptures in space, the bluish-white wisps coming off the holes disappearing into the darkness of space. The eight escorting ships entering and disappearing first, leaving the Fortress-class capital ship to smoothly glide into the rip in space, which promptly closed behind it.

* * *

 **24.7.2552 UNSC Calendar**

 **Earth, Sol System, Inner Colonies**

 **Cleveland, United States of America**

"Incoming!" At the shout, the group of Marines ducked down into cover. The blue balls of plasma in the air hitting the ground around them and sending debris and shrapnel everywhere. Then, the lead Marine got a call from his radio.

" _This is AI Khufu onboard ODP Cairo, message from Fleet Admiral Lord Terrance Hood, platoon-sized element from the Shinobi Union is enroute to your AO to reinforce your position. Expect arrival within the next few minutes."_

"Acknowledged. We'll hold till then. Twyker out." He then looked up, "Marines! We're getting reinforcements from a group named the Shinobi Union, eyes up!"

Within moments, loud whines was heard above and when observed seemed to be vehicles of sorts coming down from the sky. Two appeared to be gunships with dual turrets underneath and thrusters where the wings would be, with the rest being dropships. The dropships were sleek matte-silver constructs, with a body similar to the gunships except wider to accommodate troops and supplies. It had wings similar to the gunships except with larger thrusters to accommodate the extra weight along with extra thrusters in the back.

The group of six air vehicles began moving towards his position when they all opened fire at the height of a kilometer above ground. The yellow bolts all landing in front of Twyker's position and eliminating all the Covenant troops and armor in that area.

Two of the vehicles stopped and hovered above ground and periodically opened fire at some far off target as the other four landed, disgorging troops from their troop bays. One of them, with lights colored yellow moved forward to Twyker, "Are you Sergeant Twyker?"

"Yeah, who are you?" He replied, his eyes narrowed as he observed how advanced all their equipment were. A few of the Marines gasped when several squads of Promethean Crawlers and Knights along with supporting Watchers came out.

"1st Lieutenant Kazehara, 2nd Platoon, 322nd Company off of the SVS Curiosity. My platoon and I are here to provide you support in retaking this city." He said, his lightrifle clasped in both his arms.

"Your help is appreciated, although I don't see how the few of you are going to make a difference in this fight." Twyker said, skepticism in his voice as he eyed the SU troops securing the surrounding area and hauling supplies out of their dropships.

"At the moment we're setting up a teleportation grid to our ship in orbit. As soon as it does, we'll be able to call in additional troops and support." He stated, as behind him, some of the troops were hauling a device of some kind out of one of the landing crafts and placing it onto the ground. The device was oval shaped, with a blue core and three panels of sorts on the sides that opens and is aimed skyward.

"How long will it take?"

"Not long, right about now." True to his word, flashes of blue light appeared from the device and more squads of Crawlers and Knights appeared and began moving out. Including a platoon-sized element of Promethean soldiers who proceeded to take various weapon emplacements that were being teleported in and setting them up in a makeshift perimeter of the landing zone.

"Very well. At the moment, the UNSC has control of about 22% of the city, but we're barely holding out as it is. With your help we can start to secure what we have and begin to push the Covvies out of our city."

"Our Phaetons can help with close air support and the Crawlers and Knights will support your push. Just tell us where you need us."

* * *

 **24.7.2552 UNSC Calendar**

 **Earth, Sol System, Inner Colonies**

 **Crow's Nest, Near Voi**

"That's what happened when we got here. So far, various elements from both our Shinobi and Ashigaru complements, along with our Promethean complement are supporting UNSC troops where they are either about to fall or in very heavy fighting." Naruto stated as he stood in the command center with Keyes, Master Chief, and Johnson, with Cortana standing on top of the holotable.

The screens in the command center was showing live views of the battle in space, as well as several of the major battles on the planet although the big screen was showing the situation in Voi. Keyes was looking at the screens while listening to Naruto when she turned around and walked to the holo table.

"This'll definitely help. How's it going in space?" Keyes asked Naruto as she looked at the holographic table that was set up in the middle of the room by Naruto when he unsealed a teleportation beacon, allowing them to bring in Promethean troops and additional supplies. The Marines were promptly left with their proverbial jaws hanging open.

"Bad, the UNSC fleet is taking a heavy toll. While our ship is helping immensely, your ships are still being destroyed way too quickly." Naruto said as he leaned on the holotable.

Before anyone could say anything more, the Arbiter came into the room whilst eyeing the SU troops guarding the door, "Ah, Demon. It seems you have finally arrived." He looked towards the other occupants when his eyes landed onto Naruto, "You… are human, yet you wear the armor of the Forerunners… Who are you?"

Naruto for his part simply turned around and faced the Sangheili, "You must be Arbiter Thel 'Vadam." He then bowed, "I am Naruto Uzumaki, one of the five leaders of the Shinobi Union, here to assist our human cousins in their time of need."

Thel narrowed his eyes, "I have heard of your arrival, yet I still am wary. Where were you all these years?"

Naruto crossed his arms, "We were not even aware that other races existed until a week or so ago. We suspected, but never knew for a fact. Not until the arrival of the UNSC ship, the Spirit of Fire in one of our systems did we have any inkling that we had human cousins."

"Very well. Although I am curious about the, constructs, you have brought into the base." Thel said as he eyed one of the Crawlers on a wall.

"Ah, yes. Those would be Prometheans Crawlers." Naruto said, seeing what Thel was looking at. He then pointed to a pair of Knights and Watchers, "Those would be the Promethean Knights and Promethean Watchers." He then pointed to a Promethean soldier hauling some supplies, "That is a Promethean soldier. All of those aren't living beings, but constructs that the Shinobi Union created gleaned through Forerunner technology to supplement our forces in combat."

He pointed to a device in the corner of the room, "That's a teleportation beacon. With that we can connect to our ship in orbit and bring in more Prometheans and supplies down to wherever we have beacons on the planet. We used those to bring in the Prometheans in the base."

"I see. Well, it seems that the Covenant is in for a surprise if they attack this base. " He said, before turning to Keyes and heading to join them at the holotable.

"Alright, now that everyone's here, we can do the full briefing." Keyes began as Cortana pulled up a map of Earth and surrounding space. "The Prophet of Truth's ships breached the lunar perimeter, smashed what was left of the Homefleet. Terrestrial casualties from the subsequent bombardments were… extreme. Truth could've landed anywhere but he committed all his forces here, East Africa, the ruins of New Mombasa. Then, they started digging."

"Ma'am, what about Halo?" Chief asked.

"We stopped it, but only temporarily. Now the Prophet of Truth is looking for something called the Ark. Where he'll be able to fire all the Halo rings. If he succeeds, Humanity, the Covenant, every sentient being in the galaxy…"

"The rings will kill us all." He said with grim finality.

"Ma'am," One of the Marines manning a comm station called out, "I have Lord Hood…"

"Patch him through." Keyes said as they all turned their attention to the main screen on the wall. A second passed and Lord Hood showed up, clad in his white uniform and standing in what appeared to be a command center.

"Good news, Commander Keyes?" He said as he put on his hat.

Keyes glanced at both Chief and Naruto, "As good as it gets."

"So I see." He looked between the Chief and Naruto before settling on the Chief, "What's your status son?"

"Green, sir."

"Glad to hear it." He then turned to Naruto. "So you're Naruto, the Seventh Fire Shadow, or should I say the Nanadaime Hokage."

Naruto gave a little grin, before clasping his right hand to his chest and giving a little bow, "I am. Uzumaki Naruto, the Nanadaime Hokage of the Shinobi Union. Here to assist our human cousins in their war for survival."

Hood studied Naruto for a second and what he saw satisfied him. "I can see it in your eyes. You aren't new to war, are you."

Naruto shook his head, "No, I am not. I along with my fellow kage are intimately familiar with war, especially with a war for survival."

"It's sad to see someone so young having to become familiar to war, considering that you were never a part of this war."

Naruto chuckled, "I'm not exactly young, Lord Hood. In fact, I dare say I'm older than everyone in this room."

"Really?" Hood was skeptical, along with basically everyone in the room except for the two guards belonging to Naruto's personal guard. "How old are you then?"

Naruto smirked, "I am 344 years old as of the 10th of this month."

The other occupants in the room (minus Naruto's personal guards who grinned behind their blue opaque face plates) were, shocked, to say the least. Keyes and many of the Marines in the room had their eyebrows raised so far up their forehead that it might disappear if it goes any higher. Cortana on the holotable actually paused for a second, a large amount of time for an AI, but the Chief's expression couldn't be seen sadly since it was hidden behind his helmet.

The Arbiter's jaws were spread open, their version of their jaws on the ground it seems while Lord Hood raised a singular eyebrow. At this point, the two Shinobi guarding the doors were trying their best to hold in their laughter, if you looked closely you could actually see the minute movements of their shoulders.

"So, should we be careful to not bump you too hard?" Cortana joked, cutting through the surprise easily.

"Hmm… I don't know… My bones are getting kinda creaky these days." Naruto replied, easily getting in the flow with Cortana.

Hood coughed, calling back the attention, "Well, that is very surprising there Lord Hokage. How is it possible that you are able to live that long?"

"Some time ago, by looking through the Forerunner's archives, we found a serum that helps to increase longevity by around 1000 years. While it's very long, it was made to be basically an immortality serum due to incorporating my blood. The longest lifetime of an Uzumaki isn't exactly known, but there were a few who had lived past 250. Add in the fact that I have a demon stuffed in my gut when I was a baby, basically meant that my lifespan is stupidly long. It wasn't very surprising that the serum became the key to immortality." Naruto explained.

A bout of silence followed that before Cortana once again broke the silence, "A, demon. Really?"

Naruto shrugged, "Pretty much. He was several stories tall and one of his nine tails was enough to destroy entire mountains with a lazy swipe of his tails. Not including the fact that he could shoot giant balls of energy with enough power to destroy the ship I came on. You want to meet him?"

"Eh, we could?"

"Why not? He always does want a chance to show off his magnificence, the arrogant ass." Naruto said before going through a few handsigns and slamming his hand onto the ground, " **Demon Summoning Jutsu!** " Immediately, a puff of smoke exploded from where his hand impacted the ground and a large shape could be seen. As quickly as it came the smoke disappeared, revealing a blood-red fox as large as a dire wolf with black circles around it's eyes stretching it's back.

" **Ahh, it's nice to be out of that cage. Kit, you finally got around to summoning me even though you could've done it for a while?"** Kurama said, glaring at Naruto.

"Well, ya know…" He said, while scratching the back of his head.

Hood looked at Kurama, so did everyone else, before saying, "You are Kurama are you not?"

Kurama turned his head to look at Hood and barred his teeth a little, **"How did you know my name ningen?"**

"Captain Cutter sent me a report on his encounter with you. I learned your name from there."

" **Ah, those ningens. Very well."** He said, satisfied.

"So this is a demon. I guess he is since all I'm getting from him is fluctuating energy that doesn't match anything in my databases." Cortana said, shrugging her shoulders as she continued to scan where Kurama was.

"Anyway, we should come back to why I'm calling you. Commander Keyes came up with a good plan. But without you, I wasn't sure we could pull it off." Hood said bringing them back on topic.

Keyes brought up a datapad, "Truth's ships are clustered around the excavation site and his infantry is deployed anti-aircraft batteries around the perimeter. But, if we neutralize one of the batteries, punch a hole in Truth's defences…"

"I'll initiate a low-level strike. Hit'em right where is hurts." Hood crossed his arms, "I only have a handful of ships Master Chief. It's a big risk. But I'm confident *Bzzt*" The screen turn black and all the power in the base died, leaving everyone in the red haze of emergency lighting.

"Hell, not again!" One of the Marines in the room exclaimed.

"Emergency generators, now!" Keyes ordered.

"Shielding failed, they're down and charging." The same Marine that announced Hood called out.

"As soon as they're up, reestablish contact with Lord Hood. Let him -"

"You are, all of you, **Vermin**." All the screens in the room turned back on and the image of the Prophet of Truth came on. "Cowering in the dirt thinking what, I wonder, thinking you could escape the coming fire? No… Your world will burn until it's surface is but glass! And not even your Demon will live to creep, blackened from it's hole from to mar the reflection of our passage; the culmination of our journey. For your destruction is the will of the gods! And I… I am their instrument!" Then the screens all shut off and the power turned back on.

Johnson chewed on his cigar, "Cocky bastard, just loves to run his mouth."

"Does he usually mention me?" Chief asked.

Keyes just looked at him before she looked down onto the holotable. Then she looked at the Marine manning the comms, "Give the order, we're closing shop."

"Ma'am?"

"We're about to get hit. Even with the help of Naruto and his troops I doubt we'll be able to hold them off for long." She turned around and started walking out, "The wounded, we're getting all of them out."

Johnson huffed, "I'll carry them myself."

The Marine called out again, "Ma'am, the squad leaders are requesting a rally point. Where should they go."

Keyes kept walking up the stairs before she stopped at the top and glanced over her shoulder, "To war." Before she cocked her pistol and kept walking.

* * *

 **Alright. Finished. So, more building up, next chapter we get action, and lots of it! Bodies will burn and blood will fly! Let loose the hounds of war!**

 **Btw, a new story or two might pop up sometime this month. Been wanting to finish this chapter before I start on anything.**

 **Review and stuff!**


	4. Chapter 4

***Kicks in door and a marching band enters along with author***

 **Fuck yeah! I'm done with highschool! After a grueling several weeks and many a tear being shed by fellow classmates and slowly dying in a very hot and creepy basement (a floor below the stage) waiting for graduation to start, I am done! Also in summer vacation, so time! But, college is looming so that means lots of paperwork and tests. Damn it. I swear, they're making it so much harder than it needs to be.**

 **But! You didn't come here to read my life story, you're here to read about this story! So, without further ado, to the reviewer wall!**

 **(PS: If you see any errors, hit me up in review or PM, I read them all. I did all this myself, no beta so any errors are mine.)**

 **Ozzie93:** Said this in ch. 3, but I was on a ME reading trip through FF when I wrote the first chapter, so lots of Commanders everywhere and it leaked into my writing. For the background… Well…. All I can say is that stories tend to have a life of their own. I originally wanted to write the background in ch. 2. But obviously that didn't happen. It's happened to a lot of different authors too, it's unfortunate, but it happens. The fact that they don't exactly have time for a chat by the fireplace also doesn't help.

 **PhillyCh3zSt3ak:** Things are going to happen differently in this fic, the Flood will make an appearance, but they'll be dealt with differently.

 **S.O.L:** Kurama is a bit proud of the fact he is a demon, the most powerful of the nine notwithstanding.

 **HolyKnight5:** Again, wanted to put in background info, or at least more of it, back in ch. 2, but obviously that didn't happen. Add in the fact that they don't have time to just sit down and chat about history doesn't help. Don't know exactly when I'll be able to put in the info, but for now, take it as an interesting mystery.

Also, wow. Your theory is pretty bloody close to what how I'm setting it as. But I won't say more than that.

 **Others:** Thanks also to everyone else who said they liked the story, helps to keep me motivated to make time (as little there was before) and try to write some more for this story down. And well writing in general.

 **Disclaimer is back in ch. 1. Blah blah blah. You get the point.**

"Normal speech"

' _Radio'_

" **Demon, Bijuu, other supernatural beings"**

* * *

 **24.7.2552 UNSC Calendar**

 **Earth, Sol System, Inner Colonies**

 **UNSC Planetary Defense Line**

The CSO-class Supercarrier, the epitome of the Covenant Navy, is a might to behold. At the length of 27 to 29 kilometers with a width of 11.4 kilometers and armed with at the very least seven energy projectors, countless plasma turrets and pulse laser turrets, these titanic vessels are capable of taking on entire fleets and coming out the victor and can be considered the strongest non-Forerunner vessel ever created in the known galaxy. One of these vessels, the Triumphant Reverence, flagship of the Fleet of Furious Redemption, glistened in the sunlight coming from Sol as it charged its numerous energy projectors as it aimed towards the human fleet protecting Earth.

A few moments later, with the projectors ready to fire it finished aiming towards a cluster of Paris-class Frigates. Right before it could fire, a blindingly bright lance of blue energy crashed against it's shields, the shields itself holding for a split second before the lance speared right through the main bulbous head of the vessel, igniting the pent up energy and caused the mighty vessel to ignite in a brilliant explosion taking out several nearby CCS-Class Battlecruisers at the same time.

"Target destroyed, time till particle lance ready to fire at 45 seconds." Miyamoto reported.

Shikadai glanced at the battle map, "Keep picking off their supercarriers until they are all destroyed then move onto the assault carriers, the UNSC can handle the smaller vessels." The ship rocked noticeably as a plasma torpedo from a nearby battlecruiser hit.

"Shields down to 87% sir!"

Shikadai frowned, 'Damn it, no matter how much technologically better we are enough hits will still whittle down our shields before long. An ant can still beat a scorpion if there are enough ants.' He glanced at Miyamoto, "Do what you can to keep our shields up, redirect power from noncombat critical systems if need be."

"Very well Commander, redirecting power from noncombat critical systems to supplement our shields."

"This ship isn't designed for mainline fighting, all we can do is survive and take out as many of them as possible. Let's hope our reinforcements can get here fast enough or we're all dead."

 **Some time earlier…**

"Lord Hood, I'll be deferring to your orders while we're here, where do you want us?" Shikadai asked.

"Very well. In that case…" Hood glanced outside of the frame, presumably to a map of the space battle nearby, "I'll have your ship shore up the main defense line, the Covenant is concentrating their Super Carriers there and while we can do damage, we can't deal them out fast enough to stop those things from breaking our lines. Sending you the coordinates now."

"Copy that Fleet Admiral, coordinates received. We'll hold the line. Nara out." Shikadai nodded to Hood before closing the channel, before he began relaying orders to his bridge crew, "Helm, plot heading to Alpha - Tango - 04557 by Charlie - Hotel - 34261, set speed to max sublight. Shields and Weapons prepare for combat, we are now at Code Red. Repeat, we are at Code Red on Combat Readiness. Weapons, I want you to specifically target their supercarriers, they're our biggest problem right now, use the particle lance since it's our biggest weapon in our arsenal and we need those things gone yesterday."

He took a breath after relaying his orders before sagging slightly into his seat, "Ah… This is so troublesome… Guess Lord Hokage's crap luck at missions is still holding up after all this time."

Miyamoto chuckled, "Yes, the Lord Hokage has had rather bad luck in his missions. Remember the time he told you about his first C-rank mission and how it turned into an A-rank?"

"Yeah… Of all the people who would meet he met the A-rank nuke nin Momochi Zabuza of the Bloody Mist and his apprentice." He smiled slightly, remembering the time Naruto recounted some of his adventures in his younger years before he was broken from his reminiscing from the officer at the Helm.

"Captain, ETA 30 seconds till arrival."

"Right. Warm up everything we got. This is going to be a tough fight, even if we are technologically more advanced."

 **Present…**

"Arm slipspace missile blocks C through E, target Covenant battlecruisers 18 through 25 in sector 5!" Shikadai looked back towards a map of the battle, so far they've destroyed two of the five supercarriers with their particle lance, 17 CCS-Class Battlecruisers and 8 CAS-Class Assault Carriers through the use of their particle cannons, hard light lances, and slipspace missiles, along with a number of smaller classes. But at the same time, the UNSC lost at least 12 frigate packs and a good number of their cruisers while taking their pound of flesh from the Covenant. Still, the Curiosity had the largest kill count so far.

"Captain! Large group of Covenant space fighters and gunships are breaking off and heading towards the ODPs!"

'Damn it!' He looked at the map for a second as he weighed his options, "Take fighter flights 3 through 7 from their sectors and have them intercept and respread our fighter screen to cover their absence." The battle was going relatively well so far, but the Covenant still has a considerable number advantage over them.

"Sir! A number of battlecruisers just broke through on our right flank! The UNSC ships there are gone and we got orders from Fleet Admiral Hood to stop them!"

"Very well. Miyamoto, plot a micro jump right behind those ships. Weapons, charge hard light lances."

"Plotting micro jump now. ALERT to all crew, prepare for micro slipspace jump! Micro jump in 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. MARK." Right as he said mark, the ship cut open a slipspace rupture in front of it, and the ship slipped into it, the portal closing behind it. A scant second later a slipspace portal opened up behind the Covenant ships gunning their engines towards earth and the Curiosity quickly came out guns blazing. Hard light lances fired from their batteries and slammed into all the ships except for one, the beams breaking the shields and melting through the hull into critical systems causing each ship to explode.

The surviving battlecruiser, the moment it saw the portal opening, dove below the battle plane and evaded the hard light beam that would have destroyed it. Firing back, the plasma torpedoes raced through space and slammed into the Curiosity's shields quickly enough that it couldn't enact evasive maneuvers due to the knife-fighting range the two ships were in.

The shields held and the SU vessel fired it's particle cannons at the battlecruiser whose shields, unfortunately for them, didn't hold up under the assault and popped, allowing the particle rounds to slam into the ship's hull, burrowing through the armor and into it's guts causing it to blow up.

"Call Hood, tell him we took care of the battlecruisers and to restask some ships to cover this flank. We're staying here until those ships arrive."

"Affirmative, sending package now." The Comms. Officer replied.

"Captain! We got a supercarrier and some more battlecruisers bearing down on our position!" The Sensors Officer called out.

"Miyamoto, tell me that the particle lance is recharged…"

"It is. Target the supercarrier with the particle lance?"

"Yes, same as usual. Fire slipspace missiles F through G on the battlecruisers. What is the status of our shields?"

Miyamoto glanced at Shikadai, "It is holding currently at fifty percent and recharging at a rate of two percent every minute."

"Alright, do it."

The Curiosity reoriented so that the spinal mounted particle lance was aimed towards the looming supercarrier as weapon went through it's firing sequence. Unfortunately, the super carrier fired one of it's energy projectors before the Curiosity could fire. The energy projector reached the ship in less than a second and slammed into the golden hexagonal shield surrounding it and knocking the ship off course by several kilometers.

"Miyamoto! Status on our shields!" Shikadai yelled out as he held on to his chair as the ship shuddered hard.

"Shields are holding at 33%. We can take one more shot like that but no more after." He replied.

"Incoming plasma torpedoes!"

"Micro jump us above them! Orient us to come out with our particle lance pointing at that supercarrier and our slipspace missiles firing at it as well! Have our particle cannons targeting half the battlecruisers and our hard light lances the other half!"

"Micro jump in progress! Brace!" Miyamoto said as the ship slipped into the opened portal in front of it, dodging the incoming plasma torpedoes before coming out of the portal right above the supercarrier.

The Curiosity let loose it's particle lance the moment it came out of the 11th dimension of slipspace, giving back what the supercarrier gave with a vengeance as it's other armaments targeted and fired on the escorting battlecruisers. The particle lance hit the large bulbous head, breaking the shield and penetrating through the hull and out the other side causing secondary explosions to rock the ship, but was still combat-able. The slipspace missiles rocketed out of their hold and entered into slipspace portals that took them inside the massive ship and exploded, taking everything and everyone in their blast radius into the 11th dimension to either die when supplies ran out or the deadly forces that pervade the realm.

The particle cannons opened fire a second after the particle lance fired, the rounds racing through space and slamming into the battlecruisers to the same effect as their earlier brethren, that is having their shields popped and the rounds burrowing into their hull and causing them to explode. The hard light lances though, unlike before where they merely speared into ship's hulls, this time the lances moved across the ship, carving them into a number of pieces as debris and bodies was sucked out into space.

"Supercarrier and the eight escorting battlecruisers destroyed Captain. That makes it three supercarriers and thirty-one battlecruisers along with eight assault carriers and a number of smaller classes." Miyamoto reported as the ship moved silently in space through the debris field of the destroyed Covenant vessels, some of the debris actually being pushed out of the way by the shields.

"Give me a status report of the ship." Shikadai ordered as he leaned forward in his chair and eyeing the constantly changing battle map.

Miyamoto glanced at him from the corner of his eye, "Missiles down to 48% available ordnance. Shields are currently holding at 38% but the debris field isn't helping it recharge. We have some minor damage to some electronics on the areas where that energy projector hit our shields but the Huragoks and repair drones are taking care of it, should be done in a few minutes. Power levels are stable and no casualties reported, killed or wounded. All systems and sections reporting in green and waiting for your orders."

"Incoming communication from Fleet Admiral Hood Captain." The comms. officer called out, pushing some buttons and putting it on screen.

Lord Hood came on the main screen, looking more haggard than he was earlier. "Before I say anything else Captain, I would like to thank you and your crew for what you've done so far. I can say without a doubt things wouldn't be going as smoothly as it has so far without your help."

Shikadai nodded, "No problem Fleet Admiral."

"But the Covenant don't look like they're about to throw in the towel yet, despite losing three of their supercarriers to you already. I'm retasking some frigate wolf packs and cruisers to hold your position and they should be arriving soon. Till then, you'll hold that flank before you can re-" Hood's comm. line blinked off the main screen as static began filling the comm line instead.

"Captain, we lost contact with Fleet Admiral Hood." The comms. Officer said, "Attempting to reestablish contact now…."

"Captain! We're picking up Forerunner signals on Earth's surface along with a large Slipspace portal above the city of Voi! Nearby Covenant vessels along with the Forerunner Dreadnaught in their possession is running into the portal. All other Covenant vessels are still in system and fighting the UNSC fleet." The Sensors officer reported.

"Communications with Fleet Admiral Hood has been achieved, putting him on the main screen." Hood reappeared on the main screen, several cuts on his face and his uniform crumpled up along with various crewmen behind him running to and fro.

Shikadai raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Sir, what happened? We lost communications with you just now and we're detecting Forerunner signals on the surface of Earth near Voi."

"Wait one Captain, we've *cough* lost contact with our forces on the ground, we are trying to reestablish contact now."

"Fleet Admiral! Contact established with the Master Chief and Commander Keyes." Said an offscreen comms. officer. The Chief and Keyes then joined the line.

Hood fell into a fit of coughing for a second before he spoke again, "What did Truth just do?! *Cough* Did he just activate the rings?!"

Then a female voice, which Shikadai assumed was Commander Keyes, spoke, "No sir, but he certainly did something…"

"Evac wounded and regroup. Wherever Truth went-"

"Sir, new contact slippin' in." A sensors officer said from aboard the Cairo.

"Captain! Flood biosignature detected coming from that new contact! I repeat: Flood biosignature detected on Earth!" The sensors officer on Shikadai's bridge crew reported to their shock.

"Captain Nara, you've fought the Flood before?" Hood asked.

Shikada sighed, "Not me personally, but the Shinobi Union has. We've discovered several Forerunner installations already including Installation 01, which would be one of the Halos the Forerunners built. The ring was almost lost when a Flood outbreak happened when a previously unknown Gravemind, which we believed was hiding, broke out of their containment. We managed to contain the outbreak with the help of the ring's monitor, but we lost a lot of people, right Lord Hokage?"

Naruto then spoke up for the first time in the conversation, "Yes. We did, we lost entire companies to them before we got smart. This was a few years the Kaguya Incident which allowed us to travel to the stars so not all of our troops was fully outfitted with Forerunner equivalent weapons and equipment since it was so advanced. It wasn't before we found their weakness with fire and changed our tactics did we finally got any headway in dealing with them."

"Either way," Keyes started, "That Flood ship landed in Voi, it's spreading all over the entire city."

"How do we contain it." Hood flatly asked towards no one in particular.

"Find the crashed Flood ship, overload it's engine core. We either destroy the city, or risk losing the entire planet."

"Do it." Hood ordered with not a second's hesitation.

"Chief, make your way to the crash site." Keyes ordered.

"My men and I will join him. We can't let the Flood get beachhead in this city, or it'll be increasingly difficult to dislodge them." Naruto said seriously, "Captain Nara, pull any troops on Earth that can be spared and transport them to around the city, we have to cordon off any path out of the city and prep your ship for cleansing operations."

"Cleansing operations?" Hood asked.

"What you would call glassing, the best way we found so far to deal with massive amounts of Flood. The best you can do would be using your nuclear arsenal, but that results in deadly radiation which I doubt you would want on your home planet and the missiles can be shot down." Shikadai explained.

"New contacts above Voi! IFF says they're Covenant Separatists!" The sensors officer aboard the Cairo cried out. "Picking up a message on all bands, it's from the assault carrier in the center!

"Hail Humans and take heed. This is the carrier Shadow of Intent. Clear this sector while we deal with the Flood."

"Damn it. This can be both a good thing and a bad thing. Chief, heads up. You're about to get help from the Elites. " Hood warned.

"Fleet Admiral," Shikadai started, "The ships you sent just arrived, we're heading back to the main defensive line."

"Very well Captain. The sooner those Covenant ships get dealt with, the faster we can deal with the Flood. Hood out." Hood blinked off the main screen and Shikadai sighed once more.

"Helm, move us back to our old position. Miyamoto, do what you can to replenish our shields as much as possible before we get there. Weapons, rearm and charge our weapons. Let's finish this."

* * *

 **So. Space battle. How'd I do? First one I ever wrote so wouldn't mind your guy's thoughts. I'm updating my stories now it's summer so you guys can expect more updates to my other stories if you read them. Have a nice summer guys, I sure as hell will!**

 **Review! Review!**


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